Dakota Beacon

President Obama has had a morale-boosting couple of weeks.

With the help of Republican leadership (term loosely used) in the House and Senate he saw his trade agreement passed.

The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide tax subsidies underpinning Obamacare.

The Supreme Court also held that all fifty states must recognize homosexual marriage.

Obama has had a couple of good weeks, but it was not so with others. While America preoccupied herself with these attention-getting news items, other important news lay ignored on the editorial boardroom floor.

Using 33,000 troops, Russia conducted a dress rehearsal of an invasion of Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. These countries sit astride vital Baltic sea lanes. Once in Russian hands NATO could not readily respond to a Russian invasion of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. An assessment of the Russian military operation was released by the Center for European Policy.

Moving on, it seems that the unabated murder rates in major cities do not qualify as “news” in the eyes of editorial board decision-makers – unless a white cop shoots a black in the line of duty. That becomes national news. Run-of-the-mill shootings are, well, run-of-the-mill. Pulling one of multiple stories out of the hat, WXYZ-TV, Detroit, reported 1 dead and 11 shot on June 20 at a birthday celebration on Detroit’s West Side. WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, reported 10 shot with a shotgun in a drive-by shooting on June 21 at a Fathers Day block party on June 21 in West Philly.

My favorite is Chicago where the Chicago Sun-Times publishes a “shooting tracker” for those who wish to keep track of shootings in the city. So far this year there have been 1,239 shooting victims. That is on par with the 2014 total of 2,589 victims. But, ho-hum, who’s counting? Not the national media.

Gun banners, however, quickly call for “gun control.” Not so fast. The Aurora theater mass killing, the Sandy Hook high school massacre and the Charleston church massacre all happened in gun-free zones. They had gun control. So, what’s the point? Oh, well….

Meanwhile, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee warns that America is dealing with “the highest threat level we have ever faced in this country.” Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on June 22 that the threat is coming from the radicalization of young people and foreign fighters heading to Iraq and Syria to join terror groups.

Non-Muslims may not be aware that Ramadan is underway. Ramadan. That’s the Muslim holy day commemorating the first revelation of the Koran to Muhammad. Increasingly, Islamists have a strange way of celebrating.

Earlier this week, Islamic State (IS) called on its supporters to increase attacks during Ramadan and "be keen on waging invasion in this eminent month and commit martyrdom".

A Frenchman was found decapitated and two others injured June 26 after an Islamist drove a vehicle onto an industrial complex near Lyon and tried to blow up an American-owned gas factory. The victim was a transport company manager. His head was hung on a perimeter fence with Arabic writing on it. The Islamist was taken into custody along with his wife, sister and another relative.

Two dozen Muslim civilians were blown up in a mosque in Kuwait on June 26. The explosion ripped through a Shiite mosque in a busy neighborhood of Kuwait's capital after Friday prayers. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack, which Kuwait's Interior Ministry said killed at least 27 people and wounded 227.

In Tunisia, at least 38 mostly European tourists were gunned down by an Islamist in a resort hotel and on the beach. Tunisia's health ministry said British, German, Belgian and Tunisian nationals were among the dead and that the death toll could rise.

What is the Islamic rough equivalent for “Hallelujah?” “Allahu Akbar?”

Are Islamic terrorists here in the US? Jeh Johnson, head of Homeland Security, nonchalantly says people should attend Independence Day events as planned but "remain vigilant." Comforting.

If you want to find out what is really going on in the United States and the division between the American people and their leaders, read the foreign press. Foreign journalists have less of an axe to grind with the American public than does our contemporary mainstream media. Foreign journalists increasingly regard America with less bias and more crestfallen amazement.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)